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Aluminum
Oxide Controversy: Facts or Fallacy
At
a recent physician's meeting in Southern California, concerns
were expressed regarding the use of aluminum oxide as part of
the treatment of microdermabrasion and specifically, statements
were made relating this material to the onset of Alzheimer's Disease
and/or pulmonary fibrosis.
Reports
cited as correlating exposure to aluminum oxide with the onset
of Alzheimer's Disease or pulmonary fibrosis have frequently been
misquoted or taken completely out of content. To be precise, these
reports deal specifically with aluminum mine workers. In a report
entitled "Pulmonary Fibrosis in Aluminum Oxide Workers,"
the writers specifically indicate that the nine subjects in
question had an average duration of working place exposure to
aluminum oxide of 25 years and all had smoked or continued to
smoke cigarettes. What the study also indicated was that these
workers had excessive and prolonged exposure to dust in work environments
without the use of OSHA recommended respirators. Other published
studies indicate similar results and all study subjects were mine
workers.
To
date, many neuroscientists have indicated that the two prominent
marks of Alzheimer's,c called beta amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary
tangles, may well be the cause of Alzheimer's. There is no mention
of any connection between aluminum or any derivative thereof and
Alzheimer's Disease.
Additionally,
accordingly to the Journal of American Dentistry Association
(JADA), a study indicated that aluminum oxide crystals have
been in use since the 1940's as the medium for air-abrasion systems.
These systems use aluminum oxide crystals to abrade teeth for
removing caries (decay) and in preparing teeth for bonding. This
means that the crystals were being put directly into the mouths
of humans.
Materiel
Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) are documents that contain information
about the potential health effects of exposure to a particular
chemical. Beyond the minimum information required by OSHA to ensure
that the hazards of all chemicals produced or imported are evaluated,
and that the information concerning their hazards is transmitted
to employers and employees, some suppliers put more details in
their MSDS than is required. This unfortunately provides an opportunity
for unscrupulous companies to exaggerate and promulgate scare
tactics about particular substances to serve their commercial
needs.
The
Aluminum Oxide Controversy: Facts or Fallacy, By Laura L. Root,
CIDESCO Diplomate, Published in Dermascope, 2000:25;4
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